Leeuwin Estate

Leeuwin Estate is an Australian winery based in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.

Contents 1 History 2 Wines 3 Leeuwin Estate Concert Series 4 References 5 External links

History

Leeuwin Estate was established in 1969 by Denis and Tricia Horgan.^[1][2] The land was previously used as a cattle station and after having been purchased as part of a deal to buy a plumbing business by Denis Horgan, the land was converted to vineyards based on the advice of the Western Australian Department of Agriculture.^[3][4]

Robert Mondavi provided significant advice during the planning and setup stages of the estate after contacting the Horgans in 1973 to promote the potential that Margaret River had as a wine region and to look for investment opportunities.^[3][5][6][7] Initial plantings consisted of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinot noir.^[4]

Bob Cartwright was appointed as head winemaker in 1978.^[3] In the same year that Cartwright was appointed, the first vintage of wines were made. The vines had reached maturity and could provide enough grapes for commercial production and bottling levels.^[4] Cartwright held the position of head winemaker for 28 consecutive vintages until retiring in September 2005.^[8][9]

The current head winemaker is Paul Atwood.^[10][11] He has worked at Leeuwin Estate since 1997, being promoted to head winemaker on Bob Cartwright's retirement in 2005.^[12]

The winery is still owned by Denis and Tricia Horgan, with their son Justin working as the company general manager.^[10]

Denis Horgan was awarded a Centenary Medal and both he and Tricia Horgan were inducted as Members of the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to tourism in Western Australia.^[13][14][15]

Wines

Leeuwin Estate produces around 60,000 cases of wine each vintage and owns 121 acres of vineyards.^[10]

The most well known wine produced by Leeuwin Estate is the "Art Series Chardonnay". It has been described by wine critic James Halliday as "Australia's finest example" of Chardonnay^[10] and the Langton's Classification of Australian Wine places it at the highest level of "Exceptional".^[1] The first vintage of the Art Series Chardonnay was from 1980, with the first vintage of the wine receiving a recommendation as the best Chardonnay in the world by Decanter in 1982, bringing Leeuwin Estate to the attention of the wine world.^{[3][4][5][16]} A large proportion of the grapes used in this wine are from the "Block 20" vineyard,^[1] which was noted as one of the "Top 25 Australian Vineyards" by Australian Sommelier Magazine.^[17]

As well as the Chardonnay, Leewin Estate produces four other flagship "Art Series" wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc.^[10] Each of the five "Art Series" wines in each vintage has a new painting printed on the label from an Australian artist.^[18]

The "Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon" is listed at the "Distinguished" level of the Langton's Classification, being described by Langton's as representative of the "quintessential southern Margaret River style"^[19] and by Robert Parker as "one of Australia’s great Bordeaux-styled Cabernets".^[20]

A number of lower priced wines are released under the "Prelude" and "Siblings" labels.^[10][18]

Since 2002, Leeuwin Estate has bottled all their wines under screw cap due to cork taint and Premature oxidation problems under cork.^[21]

Leeuwin Estate Concert Series

Leeuwin Estate hosts an annual series of concerts featuring major Australian and international performers.^[22] The first concert was a performance from the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985.^[3][5][23]

In February 2005, a concert was performed by Sting that attracted 6,000 attendees and raised over $4 million for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami relief efforts.^[24][25][26]

References

External links

• Official website